About Aurum
We make complex soil science useful.
Aurum Tech is a soil intelligence and applied R&D company built to help people understand what is actually limiting land performance—and what to do about it. We connect field conditions, soil and water chemistry, physical constraints, soil biology, microbial analysis, and change over time into clear diagnoses and practical decisions.
The Gap We Saw
The problem isn’t a lack of data. It’s knowing what matters. Farmers and land managers can know their soil chemistry and still not know why a crop, pasture, or planting is struggling. The real constraint may be fertility—or it may be drainage, compaction, irrigation water, biological function, or another site-specific condition.
Our Beginning
Founded in 2023, Aurum began in the arid Southwest, working in landscapes where water quality, salinity, soil chemistry, physical conditions, and biology create difficult conditions. This helped us form our philosophy: isolated measurements rarely tell the whole story. That environment shaped the way we work today—measure the system, challenge easy assumptions, and recommend an intervention only when the evidence supports it.
RootResolve™ is Born
As Aurum worked across more sites, the same need kept surfacing: customers did not need another disconnected soil test. They needed one system that could connect field context, chemistry, physical conditions, biology, microbial data, recommendations, and what happened after an intervention. RootResolve™ brings that workflow together—creating a baseline, identifying the most important constraints, guiding action, and carrying the results forward so each follow-up assessment has more context than the last.
The Future is Green, and Longitudinal
A single assessment can answer an immediate question. The greater opportunity comes from seeing what happens next. Aurum is building a longitudinal record that connects site conditions, interventions, and measured outcomes over time. For land managers, that means increasingly site-specific recommendations. For research and product partners, it creates a framework for testing what works, where it works, and under what conditions. Our goal is simple: turn every measured outcome into better evidence for the next decision.
- A growing longitudinal dataset linking conditions, interventions, and measured outcomes
- Expansion into new regions while preserving local soil and management context
- Deeper R&D partnerships for product validation, microbial research, and field-scale trials
- Increasingly tailored recommendations as site history and outcome data accumulate
- Development of proprietary soil amendments and biologicals informed by Aurum’s diagnostic and longitudinal field data
Meet the Aurum Team
Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, PhD: CEO & Founder
Joshua is a scientist, entrepreneur, and research leader whose career spans microbiology, molecular genetics, neuroscience, translational research, and environmental biotechnology. He earned his PhD at Baylor College of Medicine, where his doctoral work investigated neural circuitry using advanced molecular, viral, and systems-neuroscience methods, building on earlier training in microbiology at The University of Texas at El Paso. His peer-reviewed research has included work in neuroscience, gene delivery, human tissue models, and cell and gene therapy, alongside leadership in building clinical and translational research programs. At Aurum, Joshua brings that scientific rigor directly to agriculture and environmental biotechnology. He served as Principal Investigator on Aurum’s $100,000 NIST SBIR Phase I award to develop measurement systems and evolved microbial communities for soils challenged by salinity and drought. His leadership at Aurum is focused on translating sophisticated biology into practical tools that can solve difficult agricultural problems.
Alex Connor, PhD: Director of Research & Commercial Strategy
Alex is a biological engineer whose expertise sits at the intersection of biotechnology and commercialization. He earned his doctorate from RPI, where his research spanned synthetic biology and sustainability. His first-author and patented work includes developing a microbial platform for the conversion of polyethylene waste into biodegradable silk. Utilizing his past experience as doctoral researcher and a management and business consultant at McKinsey & Co., Alex has a strong track record of turning science into viable businesses. In 2021, he was named a Top Innovator Under 25 by the Albany Business Review. At Aurum, he leads product development and commercialization strategy—connecting rigorous science with the economic and management decisions that create value in the field.
Contact
Email: info@aurumbio.tech
